Terms of reference for Expert in service mapping and creation of referral road-map

NGO Atina

Project title: Making a Difference for Refugee Children in Europe

INTRODUCTION

NGO Atina was founded in 2003, as a response of women's movement activists in Serbia to the issue of human trafficking and the lack of adequate programs for long-term support of the victims and assistance in social inclusion. At the time, there were several organizations active in this field, which were providing short-term and non-structured assistance to victims of human trafficking - through accommodation in shelters and counseling through a hotline. Hence, the idea of NGO Atina was the change in focus from the current basic assistance programs (which are completely inadequate when it comes to achieving the long-term effects in the treatment and inclusion of identified victims of human trafficking) to the more general one - an approach based on knowledge of, and respect for, human rights, notably the rights appointed in the CEDAW Convention and the Convention on Children’s Rights, through prevention of gender-based violence, influencing the causes of entering the situation of trafficking, and empowering victims of this type of flagrant violations.

Given the lack of standards for evaluating the success of the existing programs, and the results of research that questioned the reasons why victims refuse a variety of assistance programs, Atina’s starting point is the creation of program activities according to the demands and needs of victims, and thus the program has been profiled as a program for SOCIAL INCLUSION, as opposed to the existing programs - REHABILITATION, with indications of (RE)INTEGRATION. The key difference, among other things, is the effort of NGO Atina to use its interventions, with full participation, cooperation and consent of the beneficiaries, in order to affect the causes of entering the situation of trafficking – relations in primary and secondary family, poverty, marginalization and discrimination, inability to exercise fundamental rights, and other.

In the field of migration policy, in collaboration with the Group 484 and Save the Children, Atina actively participated in the analysis of the phenomenon of children on the move in the Republic of Serbia and the formulation of recommendations for the improvement of their care.

In the context of the refugee crisis, Atina has provided support through mobile teams with a focus on women and children victims of trafficking and gender-based violence and, as such, has provided support for tens of thousands of refugees.

RATIONALE

The proportion of children among the arrivals in Europe continued increasing despite the fact that Balkan route was closed. Since the begging of the refugee crisis more then 300.000 children passed through Europe and make almost 50% of the migration population. Most of the unaccompanied children traveling through Europe are older, 14 years and above, and are particularly vulnerable as they move through the major trafficking routes in the region. There are no correct statistical data on unaccompanied and separated children, causes of separation or coping mechanisms in transit. Children arriving to Southeastern Europe continue being a highly vulnerable population, often physically exhausted, scared, distressed, and in need of medical assistance. Especially after closing the Balkan route, children are forced to cross the border illegally and also to hide their age so they can continue their journey.

The biggest gap in working with children from refugee population is inconsistent use of formal referral mechanisms between the Serbian authorities and humanitarian agencies working on child protection. Many agencies report that child protection is one of their core activities, especially the identification and referral of unaccompanied and separated children; however, there were no formal referral mechanisms on the ground in any sites. In some locations, there were informal referral pathways, but understanding and use of those mechanisms varied according to each organization. Also one of the huge gaps is that there is no feedback on referrals. Across the country, there were significant programming gaps for child protection, and in particular case management of sensitive cases such as unaccompanied and separated children and safe spaces for youth. There are no appropriate alternative care arrangements for unaccompanied children. At each site they were accommodated in the same general accommodation area as all others. Foster care services were identified as a potential solution but lacked language capacity and are challenged to accept older youth.

SCOPE OF WORK

Expert research in service mapping and creation of referral road-map will be actively working in order to map all existing services for children in Serbia in general and specifically for refugee children, in order to create referral road-map for the most vulnerable among refugee children (unaccompanied and separated children, survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence). The specific activities will be:

1. Development of methodology for service mapping and creation of referral road-map - developing the methodology which will provide frame for service mapping and creation of referral road-map.

2. Service mapping – desk research of all services available to children (Serbian children and refugee children) and field research that will consist of interviews with stakeholders working with refugee children, and outreach activities.

3. Development of report on services mapped and creation of referral road-map – report on all services mapped throughout the country and creation of referral road-map for each category of vulnerable refugee children (separated and unaccompanied minors, survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence).

4. Presentation of the report on service mapping and referral road-map – presentation of developed report to all stakeholders through other activities of the project (training), and activities of NGO Atina (conferences, meetings).

5. Closure of activities – report on all conducted activities.

OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EXPERT IN SERVICE MAPPING AND CREATION OF REFFERAL ROADMAP ARE TO:

-Become familiar with all the relevant legal framework and documents of concern for children, specifically refugee children;

Develop methodology for service mapping and creation of referral road-map;

Establish contacts with different systems (judiciary, health and social protection system) in order to gather valuable information about refugee children;

Conduct desk research of all available services for children in Serbia (not just for refugee children);

Map relevant actors in the field and cooperate with relevant institutions at the local level - the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, Red Cross, Center for Social Work, Police Administration, UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM, other civil society organizations, etc.;

Conduct field research through outreach activities, attend meetings regarding child protection of refugee children, conduct interviews with all stakeholders working with refugee children;

Attend meetings with project manager and staff of NGO Atina;

Write short, weekly progress reports of conducted activities;

Participate in education and training which Atina organizes with the purpose of improving the assistance program for children refugees;

Develop report of mapped services and referral road-map;

Create presentation of report of mapped services and referral road-map.

TIMEFRAME

These activities are to last five months and should finish by 31 January 2017.

Timeframe

Activities

12/10/2016- 26/10/2016

Development of methodology for service mapping and creation of referral road-map

26/10/2016- 14/12/2016

Service mapping

14/12/2016-31/12/2016

Development of report on services mapped and creation of referral road-map

22/01/2017- 31/01/2017

Presentation of the report on service mapping and referral road-map

23/01/2017-31/01/2017

Closure of activities

BUDGET:

NGO Atina will negotiate number of days of engagement with the selected consultant on the basis of the financial offer (gross amount) that will classify the following:

Activity description

Days

Rate per day

Total

Activity 1

Activity 2

*Add columns as needed depending on the number of activities needed to perform the assignment

Subtotal GBP__________

Other costs (specify) GBP__________

TOTAL GBP__________

The total costs should cover all preparatory work regarding data collection, communication costs between Project team, consultants and organizations (e-mail, telephone, fax, mail).

BIDDING PROCEDURE

Interested consultant should develop and submit the bidding proposal in English language to respond to above mentioned specific tasks no later than 9 October, 2016. The bidding proposal should include:

1. Description and contact details of a expert applying;

2. A clear description of the methodological approach, including proposal of sampling, methods and techniques to be used and proposal of the format of the mapping services and creation of referral roadmap;

3. A detailed Budget Proposal (in the required form);

4. CV of expert involved emphasizing only relevant experience;

5. Past performance in similar areas of a consultant applying with reference of previous contracting agencies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Project team will make decision on the selection of the most successful bidder, subject to the available budget, on the following four criteria:

University degree in the relevant field

A minimum of 3 years of relevant experience

Experience of the candidate in performing similar projects or programs;

An example of previous work as a reference of previous experience is desirable

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF BID

All bids need to be submitted no later than 9 October at 17:00h in electronic version, to the email marija.cvejic@atina.org.rs. A selection will be made no later than 11 October, 2016 and the selected consultant will be contracted no later than 12 October, 2016.